Unshaken by Fear
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We seem to live in a world where recently we people have learned their recent freedom to express their opinions. So much so that it has become a thing to express unpopular opinions in hopes of getting a reaction from people. Here are a few of the most common unpopular opinion.
Strawberries get more credit than they deserve.
Meat is overrated.
Living in the suburbs is better than living in a big city.
Chocolate ice cream is absolutely disgusting.
Walking is just as beneficial as running.
Putting a period at the end of a text makes it seem more aggressive.
Dresses with pockets look worse than those without them.
Buying stylish clothes for babies is a waste of money.
If you’re a morning person, you’re more productive.
Technology has done more good than it has bad.
Making the bed is a pointless chore.
Cargo shorts are attractive.
The letter "Q" is not necessary and should be removed from the alphabet.
People who call other people “hun” are intellectually challenged.
Traveling is a waste of money.
You should only eat 3 meals a day.
Christmas isn’t the best holiday.
I do not like dogs, any size or any breed. They smell.
Bikes are more comfortable than cars for travelling.
In our text tonight, we get the unpopular opinion of two men. So much so that the bible tells us that in the wilderness there were about 601,727 men that opposed their opinion. That only two of them believed the same thing and were willing to stand by their opinion. Let’s look at the mindset, the unshakeable faith of these two men despite the crowd.
They Refrained because of Fear
They Refrained because of Fear
When we see the 12 spies return from their mission of scoping out Canaan land, they come back with an interesting take on the situation
They report back to Moses and the children of Israel on the mission that God had sent them on
They had already forgotten who the person was that sent them to survey the land in the first place.
From the get go, I sense that the report will already be given according to a human perspective
Not according to God’s perspective
The report starts off with a status of the current land
They said that it flows with milk and honey
What God had promised with the land was true for the people
They even went as far to bring back a sample of the fruit that was there
But they counter this claim with a huge however
These men had just spent 40 days in the promise land
Just 11 days prior, they had been given the Law and the promises of God
There was physical evidence of God’s promised fulfilled in the fruit that they had brought back
In the deliverance from Egypt
Yet despite what God had done for them, they still doubted that he would deliver them in this new found adventure
How true is it for us that there are things that prove God’s promises to us
Breath in our body
Roof over our head
Clothes for us
And yet we are so prone to forget who God is
It can often seem like that in our Christian lives as well.
We give up our old life to follow Jesus, with high hopes of a better life.
But then our enemy, the sin in in our nature, looms up large and threatening, seemingly impossible to overcome.
We begin to feel that being a Christian costs too much; that it’s too much work, after all.
There is a heavy-duty lesson for us in how the 12 spies reacted to the promised land.
The twelve men traveled through the same land and saw the same things
Yet two of them came to two different conclusions
The ten are accused of
Scaring and demoralizing the people
These men because of fear and lack of faith in God had a grasshopper complex.
Doubting God’s power
Their mission implied doubt about the value of God’s gift and God’s ability
The people, in fear, quickly forgot that God had delivered them from slavery by sending 10 plagues on the Egyptians.
They had quickly forgotten God had led them on dry ground through the divided Red Sea.
They had quickly forgotten that God had drown the Egyptian army in the Red Sed and God had led them
with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
The twelve men exposed the state of their hearts by their estimate of what they saw in the land, and by the account which they gave of it. And it is well for us to remember that in forming and expressing an opinion on ministry, or on what may come before us in other saints, we are often simply revealing our own inward state.
Application: We often refrain from claiming the things that God has already promised for us because we disregard the person who actually promised it to us. We look at the tasks and tell ourselves that it is impossible for us to go forward with it despite having experiences in the past in which God has already proven himself.
They Remained because of Faith
They Remained because of Faith
One group looked at the circumstances and said that it was impossible
There are giants
There are enemies
If we enter into this land, we will surely die
Joshua and Caleb believed otherwise
They looked at the circumstances and didn’t see impossibilities but rather possibilities
Caleb and Joshua were aggressive
He was aggressively engaged in the mission of God
Caleb’s aggressiveness was not based on what he thought they could do but what he knew God could do
We need to, in faith, be aggressive God wants us to take high ground for HIs kingdom and not sit back and be satisfied with what we have
You would have thought the people took heart, remembering the promises God had made and the miracles they had seen Him perform.
But no. Because of unbelief, when they came up against resistance, they would rather have stoned Joshua and Caleb, these men of faith, than take up a battle and fight for the Promised Land.
The Israelites had forgotten all of the miraculous things God had done
We are prone to forgetfulness
We need to intentionally keep track of what God is doing around us and constantly remind ourselves what God has done in the past
God’s assignments are always too big for us to handle but Scripture and history shows us
God always empowers us to complete His assignments
They stood their ground
Despite that nobody believed it could be done
Joshua and Caleb not only opposed the negative words of their fellow spies, or even the negative reaction of the people, but they stood courageously in the face of death
Often times we start each tasks with a level of faith hoping that God will work things out but the reason our faith ends.
The reason that we lose faith is because of the faithlessness of others.
The children of Israel firmly believed prior to the report of the 10 spies that God was going to give them the land.
While we may never face the threat of being stoned to death, we nevertheless must be strong and courageous
Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
Caleb is said to have followed the Lord wholly
Which means that there was no doubt in the mind of Caleb that the Lord would deliver them from the hands of the enemies
Caleb’s spiritual success was no secret; he yielded his life unto the Lord and rested in His promises.
He was not detoured by overwhelming circumstances, obstacles he would face in reaching his goal, opposition from tribal leaders, nor opinions of the masses.
He was not fearful of his own inability but had faith in God’s ability.
The decision Caleb made affected his posterity for years to come.
In other words, Caleb’s commitment was total.
He never wavered in his belief that what the Lord promised, He would also provide the power to perform the task.
Their Restriction because of Failure
Their Restriction because of Failure
The book of Deuteronomy provides some more insight on the sending of the spies
The sending of the spies was suggested by the people
Approved by Moses
Permitted by the Lord
God had commanded them to go and take possession of the land
The motion to send out the spies was an expression of their unbelief
The exploration of the land by the spies was thorough
Even though Joshua and Caleb were full of faith and optimism
The 10 other spies prevailed and Israel followed their negative, pessimistic report and began to murmur against God and complained they had been brought out into the wilderness to die.
Because of their lack of faith, Israel was made to wonder in the wilderness for 40 years.
Most of the Israelites were not allowed to enjoy Canaan because they followed the report and attitude of the 10 spies.
Every person over the age of 20 except Joshua and Caleb were restricted from entering the promise land
The story of Israel and the 12 spies shows us that
We must never have the grasshopper complex
God created grasshoppers but never intended for His children to be grasshoppers
He wants us to be men and women of great faith and not fearful weaklings
He wants us to courageously face the challenges before us
God wants us to be a powerful force for good
Bringing glory to him throughout the process.
Just like the children of Israel
Faith is a choice
God wants us to choose to believe
God wants us to choose to obey
He wants us to sacrifice
God was with Joshua and the Israelites
They had to show that they wanted it
In the conquest of the promise land that followed the fall of Jericho
Not one city was taken without a fight
In that same spirit of faith that Joshua and Caleb had we fight our own battle against the sin in our nature.
We must give up our own will and sinful desires.
God gives us strength when we diligently seek Him in faith, and when we overcome, all the glory goes to Him.
Nothing is taken without a fight, but when we fight, there is nothing that we cannot take.
One by one the enemies will fall before us.
Then we will do more than see the “fruit of the land” from a distance. Love, joy, peace, and all the virtues – we will hold them in our grasp and taste them.
The Promised Land will be ours.
Famed World War II tank commander General George Patton said, “Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.” If you give in to your fears, you are on the path to defeat. If instead you stand strong in spite of your fears, you are on the path to victory. And we must never forget that we are not in the battle alone. With the power of God on our side, we cannot be defeated.
All Christians face defining moments that will determine the direction their lives will take for decades to come. Decisions made without being wholly committed to the Lord could mean years of wilderness experiences in our lives. Like Caleb, it is important that each of us examine ourselves and decide to be a person of faith, no matter how great the opposition might be in accomplishing what the Lord has called us to do. Remember Caleb’s secret: “Caleb wholly followed the Lord!”